Here is a Borsalino Bellagio, just like the one James Spader wears in "The Blacklist."

Conspiracy, intrigue and detective work are the foundation of the thrilling NBC show, “The Blacklist.” On it a hat-wearing ex-FBI agent played by James Spader is a most-wanted criminal who turns himself in. Looking for leniancy, he offers to use his underworld connections to capture a top terrorism suspect. Among his requests is one that he only work with a raw recruit just out of training. She is a profiler named Elizabeth Keen.

“The Blacklist” is a tense and thrilling show.

However, our main star is the hat James Spader wears. It is a black fedora with the brim snapped down in the front and up in the back.

We are 99.99% certain it is a Borsalino Bellagio. This is a very handsome men’s hat with a center dent crown. It’s double-tailed grosgrain bow band is a subtle flourish. Ours come with the rare lapel strap.

Made from a refined fur felt, the Borsalino Bellagio is a luxurious testament that proves “they” still make great hats in our modern world. Other great characteristics of note are the supple leather sweatband and the satin lining of the hat, both of which are there to help your hat last a long time.

We stock the Bellagio along with other great Borsalino hats at Hats Plus. Be sure to check them out, especially if you want to look like your favorite Hollywood stars such as James Spader and the many others we’ve profiled on Hollywood Hatties.

The Stetson Rockport is a classic mens' summer straw fedora. Perfect for work or play, the brim snaps up or down to suit your mood and style.

The snap brim is a dapper number you can wear up or down to best suit your style.

Inside it is nicely protected by a leather sweatband.

Best of all, it is one of Stetson’s most affordable summer hats.

Stetson's Rick LaPorte visits Hats Plus with next fall's hat samples. He's wearing the all new Stetson Emmett, which will likely be one of our most popular new hats of the autumn. It is a fur felt fedora with an especially handsome braided leather hat band.

As the snow melts, the songbirds return and the buds start forming on the trees, it can mean only one thing. It is time to think about next winter.

Well, only in the hat business. Hatters are always manufacturing in the opposite season. That means we get a sneak peek at this coming autumn’s hottest new hats!

So far this week we’ve had visits from Kangol, Bailey, Dobbs and Stetson. There’s nothing that stirs a hat lover’s soul with anticipation like seeing those big, black tubes of hat samples coming through the door.

Today’s visit by Stetson’s Rick LaPorte showcased many intriguing new models of fedoras and headwear innovations.

“We’ve come out with a new wool-fur felt blend hat line,” LaPorte said. “It has exciting colors and band treatments, which are made in our Garland, Texas, hat facility.”

What are some of the advantages of a blended wool and fur felt? It is much softer than a wool hat and holds its color better, too. It is more affordable than a fur felt hat, and it is a little more water repellent.

We got a preview of the Stetson Belfast, which was one of their most appealing wool-fur felt fedoras. Thick, soft and warm, it offers a more popular short snap brim with a lower profile crown. The two-tone hat band uses a primary self band with a gently contrasting grosgrain band peeking out from below it.

One of this fall’s potentially biggest winners will be the fur felt Stetson Emmett. It has a teardrop crown accentuated by a braided leather hat band. The soft brim snaps up or down according to your preference. It will come in classic black and a handsome walnut.

Wanna sneak peek of your own. Rick’s wearing one in the photo.

Stay tuned and we’ll bring you more updates about next season’s hats as we learn more!

Bigalli has several great lines of fedoras and more like this Telescope hat.

Bigalli makes handsome wool felt hats in classic designs. Hats include gamblers and fedoras with center dent, teardrop and telescope crowns. Their fedoras range from the hottest new styles to retro splendor.

Each hat is made in Ecuador and offers great features. Many of their hats are water repellent and crushable, meaning that they can be packed when crushed from side to side. Unpack it, and it will retain its original shape.

Click here to see Hats Plus’ selection of Bigalli hats.

Hats Plus employees Ken and Shawn show off some of their favorite water resistant hats, The Dakota & The Tino, on a drizzly day in Chicago.

It is an excellent question with no easy answer. Most of our fur felt hats and some of our caps are rain resistant. However, that doesn’t mean you want to wear them in the rain.

The only hat we have that advertises itself as “water impermeable” is a cap by Stefeno called the Liam. It is a handsome cap with a waterproof pedigree.

The remainder of the hats fit on a sliding scale. As I said in the earlier post “Hats, Heat & Snow,” water and heat are your hat’s worst common enemies. Those two elements easily warp, shrink, stain or disfigure hats in short order. Getting back to that scale, you never want to get a straw hat wet. On the other hand, most Tilley hats come with washing instructions.

Dressier felt hats are all going to be water resistant. With many of them, the real damage might come to the finish. For example: A Biltmore Eleganza Pork Pie with a soleil finish might keep your head dry in a downpour for a few minutes, but it can only withstand a drop or two of rain before the silken finish of the fur felt is in danger of being ruined.

Nathaniel goes all out by "Singing in the Rain" while wearing a Borsalino Crushable.

Fortunately, many of our very affordable Lite Felt hats are treated to be more water repellent. These are rugged wool fur felt hats that often are crushable, too. They hold up better in the rain than most hats but need some special TLC, which I will discuss in a minute.

The famed Italian hatter Borsalino has a beautiful and light-weight hat named the Crushable that is advertised as part of their “Rain Proof Line.” We would not necessarily call it waterproof, but with proper handling, it does hold up in the rain very well.

Even brand name hats by Stetson, Dobbs, Biltmore and others can withstand a little moisture, but you really don’t want to get them too wet. If you want to wear a hat out in the rain, be sure to use a plastic rain cover on your hat and/or carry an umbrella.

If your felt hat does get rained on, here are some simple tips to prevent or reduce the amount of damage. As you head indoors, shake off all the excess water from your hat. If it is a fedora with a snap brim, gently turn the brim up. Then find a flat cool, dry place to set your hat. Turn down the leather sweatband and rest the hat on that. If your hat does not have a leather sweatband, rest the hat upside down on its crown. Let the hat dry slowly and naturally. Do not put it in direct sunlight or on an oven top, as the heat can shrink or otherwise alter the shape of your hat.

The Hat Whisperer enjoys Boralino's C-Straw for a great summer fedora.

This year Edwin favors the Borsalino C-Straw.

“I like the teardrop style and the band,” Edwin said. “It’s one of the only hats I like with a smaller brim.”

It is a highly functional hat, too.

“It’s a casual hat that dresses up nicely,” Edwin added.

See one for yourself at Hats Plus.

Watching people tailgate, line up to enter Cowboy Stadium or cheer their teams, you’ll notice a sharp contrast between modern fans and fans of yesteryear. In 2011, the fans are wearing an assortment of T-shirts, sweatshirts and ball caps. Yet 80, or even 40, years ago, every game was a big game. Ladies wore nice dresses, and men wore suits, ties and a vast array of dress hats and caps.

Nearly a hundred years ago, everybody wore a nice hat to a ball game! You might not see many at this year's Super Bowl, but check out the fedoras, bowlers and more here at the 1913 World Series!

This photograph of the 1913 World Series at the Polo Grounds in New York is a priceless contrast to today’s fans. News service telegraph operators and fans are all decked out in great outfits. Just look at all the hats! Men are wearing fedoras, bowlers, newsboy caps, pork pie hats and skimmers (a.k.a. boaters). It was the same for football, except they’d add overcoats, scarves and gloves to the mix to battle the cold.

You might see a handful of stylish people wearing a hat other than a ball cap at this year’s Super Bowl, but wouldn’t it be fun to re-establish a classier look. Try it. Every trend starts with one person. Start with a nice hat at your next event and work your way down with the clothes as you feel comfortable.

Writer Nathaniel Cerf tries to set the retro fashion trend of wearing great hats to sporting events by wearing a Biltmore Eleganza to the first college football game played a Wrigley Field since 1938. It was the Northwestern Wildcats vs. The Fighting Illini.

As you can see, I took the first step while attending the first college football game at Wrigley Field since 1938. It was the Northwestern Wildcats vs. the Fighting Illini. (Does the purple give away my team preference?) I decided to go all out with a three-piece suit topped by a navy blue Biltmore Eleganza fedora. Let me tell ya., layers at a game near the Chicago lakefront in late November are the most amazingly wonderful thing. I was happy to see a couple other people in some nice ivies, newsboys and fedoras, but I seemed to be the only one to go all out in full retro garb.

If you are lookin’ to give it a try, basketball and hockey are still in full swing. Best of all, pitchers and catchers report for spring training in just two weeks! Our winter suffering will end soon!

Storing a hat is actually a good idea to help extend its life. It helps to keep it from getting too dirty or dusty and minimizes exposure to other elements that might harm it.

The ideal way to store a hat is in hat box. Place it upside down in the box. This will help keep the brim from flattening out. If your hat has a snap brim, make sure the brim is snapped up all the way around the hat. This helps the brim to keep its shape. It also helps to keep it from flattening out if it somehow gets dropped or flipped and restored right-side up.

Store the box on a clean, flat and dry surface. Remember that heat and moisture help to shrink hats. Keep your hat from being stored in the sun or near a heating vent.

Even if you don’t have a hat box, just follow these simple rules, and your hat should be okay on top of a closet shelf or some other place safe from children, pets, etc.

There was a time when everyone wore a hat, even the down and out, as it was a sign they hadn't completely lost their dignity.

This photo of spectators at a fire in Washington D.C. in November 1937 is especially engaging. The emotions of the witnesses are raw, and their humanity transcends the decades. Also impressive is the composition of the crowd. A man who appears to be homeless is next to a man smoking a pipe and apparently much better off. Each seems equally concerned about the fire.

Also fascinating in this photo is the hat as a status symbol, especially in that era. Even during the Great Depression, no dignified man would be seen without a hat. In this photo the apparently wealthy man has a nice center crease fedora, much like our Stetson Selby. However, even the seemingly homeless man appears to hold on to his dignity by still wearing a crumpled and battered fedora, which probably looked more like our Dynafelt Pinch or Dobbs Dayton in its younger days.

The man in the suit and tie behind them, though a little blurry in the depth of field, clearly has a different personality and hat to match. His is a teardrop crown fedora similar to a Stetson Downs, Biltmore Stewart or Dynafelt Bogart. Wait, how can we tell? The C-crown fedora often has a smaller gap between the pinches as the crown sweeps in a little more circular pattern when compared with a more straight-back look of a center-dent crown like the battered fedora of the man in the front of the photo.

As we do with movies, we’ll keep bringing you more of these classic photos to highlight the hats of every era. Stay tuned.

Hat firmly back on your head, you don’t worry about it until you’re back on your front steps. “Wait a second,” you say to yourself. “Snow is just frozen water. Water isn’t good for felt hats. What do I do?”

It is true that water and heat are your hat’s two biggest common enemies. Both can shrink or deform your hat in a hurry. While most dress hats or fur felt hats aren’t considered water resistant, keeping them safe is relatively easy.

Before you go inside, shake off as much snow as you can. Be careful not to brush or grind and melt the snow into your hat. Once in your home, find a flat, clean, dry surface to place your hat without fear that Fido or the cats will get to it. Then turn down the leather sweatband. Rest the hat on the sweatband, making sure not to let the brim touch the table top. Let the hat dry slowly and naturally.

DO NOT place it on the stove, over a heating vent or radiator or under very hot lights. Although heat will dry your hat faster, it also will shrink it.

DO NOT let the felt touch any surface. If you rest the wet hat on its brim to dry, the brim will most likely lose its shape. If your hat has a snap brim, you might even want to snap the brim up as you let it dry.